Early Years Marks 60th Anniversary at Annual Conference
Early Years – the organisation for young children, and one of Northern Ireland’s longest running community and voluntary organisations, marked sixty years of supporting children and families at its annual conference today at Stranmillis University College.
The organisation was established in 1965 as the Northern Ireland Pre-schools Playgroup Association (NIPPA). Today its activities include the delivery of government funding programmes, the development of best practice in early learning and childcare, advocacy on behalf of the sector and governance support for early years and childcare settings. Early Years has also championed wider engagement, from cross-border cooperation to global networking for peace and reconciliation to support children impacted by conflict.
The conference is taking place at a time of much change and growth in the early years sector in Northern Ireland, with a significant focus on early learning and childcare within the Programme for Government, and key recommendations on early years announced this week as part of the Strategic Review of the Northern Ireland Curriculum.
The conference heard from Diane Forsythe MLA, Assembly Private Secretary to the Education Minister. Commenting on the 60th anniversary of Early Years, Education Minister Paul Givan said: “Early Years is known across Northern Ireland and beyond for its commitment to high-quality early education, childcare and family support.
“The involvement of Early Years in the delivery of some of my Department’s key programmes such as Sure Start, the Pathway Fund, the Toybox Project and more recently, the Northern Ireland Childcare Subsidy Scheme, has been critical to the achievement of government outcomes. They also play a vital role in supporting settings to deliver my Department’s Pre-School Education Programme.
“Each of these initiatives helps to ensure that every child, regardless of background or circumstance, has the best possible start in life. Early Years help to shape not just services – but futures.”
Commenting on the organisation’s achievements over six decades, Early Years Chief Executive Pauline Walmsley said;
“Across sixty years we have collaborated with thousands of people who worked tirelessly as advocates for young children in both employed and volunteer roles, in small family businesses and within the Health & Social Care Trusts and Department of Education.
As we move towards an Early Learning & Care Strategy, increased investment, and an increasingly complex global environment, Early Years will carry our community’s values forward. We will remain committed to use evidence and experience with principle and purpose to ensure all children reach their full potential”.
Other keynote speakers at the conference included Dr Mark Ginsberg, President of Towson University, Maryland who has spent more than 40 years as a psychologist, educator, researcher and senior executive, and Professor Emer Ring, Dean of Education, Early Childhood, and Teacher Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Emer has been the principal investigator on numerous national research projects focusing on early childhood.
The conference also included a series of workshops focused on policy and practice including speech, language and communication in early years settings, working with the community and daycare business fundamentals.
For further information contact Orla Farren, Early Years Communications and Engagement Manager; orlafar@early-years.org
